The Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate Special Committee on Aging chastised the Social Security Administration Wednesday for imposing hardships on millions of retirees by closing 64 local offices since 2010 and reducing hours at the remaining ones.

Committee Chair Bill Nelson charged reducing the number of offices in favor of service via the Web and phones is undercutting the agency’s mission.

“This must change. Millions of seniors and disabled American are not accustomed to doing business online, and particularly in rural areas, many do not have access to computers or high-speed internet,” said Committee Vice Chair Maine Republican Susan Collins.

She said video servicing, which is becoming more common with Social Security, can only be done where high-speed Web connections are available. According to a recent Pew Research study, 15 percent of American adults do not use the Internet at all, and another 9 percent of adults use the Internet but not at home.

A witness the Senator brought in from a center of seniors in her state, Tammy DeLong of the Aroostock Area Agency on Aging, said many retirees she works with can find benefits and obtain better service in person than on the phone because when they contact call centers they are talking to different workers who don’t know their history.

DeLong added a high number of people who can’t read very well and may not be able to understand documents online.

Social Security Deputy Commissioner for Operations Nancy Berryhill said the shift of serving the public from face to face meetings to the web and phones is being led by retiree demands. She said out close to half of retirement and disability applications are being done online.

The Social Security Administration executive added closures are also being spurred by budget constraints. While the number of retirement claims has gone up 27 percent since 2007, she noted the agency has fewer workers than in 2010.

“These are difficult times. In the last three years we have lost 11,000 employees. We are losing our most experienced employees who stay 25, 30 and 40 years,” she said.